David Moyes was let down by player’s decision making yesterday (Picture: AP Photo)

Yesterday ushered in the eighth league defeat of the season for David Moyes’ Manchester United side which is just one less than the highest number of league defeats suffered in the Premier League era under Sir Alex Ferguson, which was nine in the 2001-2002 and 2003-2004 campaigns.

However what was most worrying yesterday was that Manchester United did not, as David Moyes suggested after the full-time whistle, ‘play well.’

On many occasions this season Moyes has bemoaned his side’s lack of luck in matches with United often laying siege to an opposition’s goalmouth without being able to score before succumbing to a single goal defeat.

On those occasions the manager has been honest enough to recognise this in post-match interviews.

However yesterday the very same comments didn’t make much sense, considering how poor United were once they crossed the white line.

This wasn’t a case of tactics and nor is this a direct criticism of Moyes’ post-match words, I mean what do you expect him to say? He didn’t and shouldn’t come out and criticise his team publicly yet I am sure words were had in the dressing room.

The decision making of the players was just so poor, if we look specifically at the recent fixtures Stoke have had against both Liverpool and Chelsea we can see exactly where Stoke’s weaknesses lie, the midfield.

The only bright point for Manchester United was the performance of Juan Mata (Picture: AP Photo)

Against both Liverpool and Chelsea, Stoke’s flat midfield three did not press the opposition into making mistakes and were simply bypassed by short passing through gaps which put their back four under intense pressure.

Admittedly the conditions yesterday were not conducive to good football by any stretch of the imagination but United failed to succeed where both Liverpool and Chelsea had done.

Injuries to Jonny Evans and Phil Jones didn’t help matters with Wayne Rooney being forced to play in the middle of midfield but still the simple things weren’t just done poorly but they weren’t even attempted. After Stoke went 2-1 up United lost a lot of the rhythm created by van Persie’s equalising goal and every single pass was a lofted attempt at a ‘Hollywood ball’ into the wind.

The only player who was clever enough to try and play around the conditions was Juan Mata who looked to play quick, one touch short passes, which is what is needed to break Stoke’s burly midfield down, and the Spaniard then looked on in utter bewilderment as his teammates were on a completely different wavelength.

Fulham head to Old Trafford next Sunday in a match Manchester United need to win as much as the visitors. The level of performances will certainly improve and players will return from injury but the time has come for players to take responsibility for performances.